The invention relates generally to a method for self-configuring automated mechanical truck transmissions and controller and more particularly to a method for self-configuring and checking compatibility between automated mechanical truck transmissions and electronic controllers.
Initially, heavy duty truck transmissions included manually, i.e., operator adjusted, devices including a hand operated gear shift and a foot operated master friction clutch. This operational configuration remained essentially unchanged for many years after the advent of motor vehicles.
During the last few decades, manual, i.e., operator control, of the gear shift and master clutch of heavy duty vehicles such as trucks has become increasingly automated to the point today where an electronic control unit (ECU) provided with data from various speed and position sensors controls selection of gear ratios in the main transmission and auxiliary units such as splitters and planetary gear units as well as engagement and disengagement of the master friction clutch. Both the automated transmissions and electronic control units have become increasingly sophisticated during this time.
Modern day electronic control units are particularly complex memory and processing units which may be flashed with current software subroutines, lookup tables and the like which are then mated with an appropriate, compatible transmission. It is, of course, desirable to properly mate such software and hardware in order to ensure compatibility therebetween. It is also desirable to detect and ensure this compatibility even before the vehicle is mechanically powered up and driven. This is especially necessary since there is often little physical evidence or manner of determining the software loaded into an electronic controller by any reasonable, physical or electrical examination or test.
The present invention addresses this challenge and provides a detection subroutine which provides information to the electronic controller regarding an identifiable variable of the transmission which indicates its particular type and thus confirms or does not confirm compatibility between the electronic control unit and its software and the transmission.